The study of animal behaviour in natural environments, applying evolutionary principles to understand innate behaviours including aggression.

What did Konrad Lorenz propose about the nature of aggression in animals?

That aggression is an innate, adaptive behaviour that has evolved because it promotes survival.

Define an innate releasing mechanism (IRM).

A neural network that responds to specific environmental stimuli (sign stimuli) by triggering a fixed action pattern.

What is a sign stimulus (or releaser)?

A specific environmental trigger that activates an innate releasing mechanism, such as the red belly of a male stickleback triggering aggression in rival males.

Define a fixed action pattern (FAP).

A stereotyped, species-specific sequence of behaviours that, once triggered, runs to completion regardless of feedback.

What does it mean that fixed action patterns are stereotyped?

The same sequence of behaviours occurs each time the pattern is triggered.

AQA A-Level Psychology 7182

Social Influence

Topic overview Types of conformity and explanations for conformity Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo's prison study Explanations for obedience Resistance to social influence Minority influence Social influence and social change

Memory

Topic overview The multi-store model of memory Types of long-term memory The working memory model Explanations for forgetting Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Attachment

Topic overview Caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchrony Schaffer's stages of attachment Multiple attachments and the role of the father Animal studies of attachment Explanations of attachment Ainsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachment Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisation Influence of early attachment on relationships Cultural variations in attachment

Approaches in Psychology

Topic overview Origins of Psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of Psychology as a science Learning approaches The cognitive approach The biological approach The psychodynamic approach Humanistic Psychology Comparison of approaches

Biopsychology

Topic overview Divisions of the nervous system Structure and function of neurons and synaptic transmission The endocrine system The fight or flight response Ways of studying the brain Localisation of function and hemispheric lateralisation Plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma Biological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian

Clinical Psychology and Mental Health

Topic overview Definitions in the field of mental health Characteristics of phobias, depression and OCD Behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias Cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression Biological approach to explaining and treating OCD

Research Methods

Topic overview Experimental method Observational techniques Self-report techniques Correlations Content analysis Case studies

Scientific Processes

Topic overview Aims and hypotheses Sampling Pilot studies Experimental designs Observational design Questionnaire construction and design of interviews Variables Control Demand characteristics and investigator effects Ethics Peer review Implications of psychological research for the economy Reliability Validity Features of science Reporting psychological investigations

Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Topic overview Quantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques Primary and secondary data, including meta-analysis Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion Presentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar charts Distributions: normal and skewed distributions Introduction to statistical testing; the sign test

Data Handling and Analysis

Topic overview Primary and secondary data Descriptive statistics Presentation and display of quantitative data Distributions Analysis and interpretation of correlation Levels of measurement Coding in content analysis

Inferential Testing

Topic overview The sign test Probability and significance Factors affecting the choice of statistical test

Issues and Debates in Psychology

Topic overview Gender and culture in Psychology Free will and determinism The nature-nurture debate Holism and reductionism Idiographic and nomothetic approaches Ethical implications of research and social sensitivity

RelationshipsOption 1

Topic overview Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences Theories of romantic relationships Online relationships Parasocial relationships

GenderOption 1

Topic overview Sex, gender, sex-role stereotypes and androgyny Chromosomes and hormones in biological sex Cognitive explanations of gender development Psychodynamic explanation of gender development Social learning theory as applied to gender development Gender incongruence

Cognition and DevelopmentOption 1

Topic overview Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development Piaget's theory of cognitive development Baillargeon's explanation of early infant abilities The development of social cognition

SchizophreniaOption 2

Topic overview Symptoms of schizophrenia and issues in diagnosis Biological explanations for schizophrenia Psychological explanations for schizophrenia Drug therapy for schizophrenia Psychological therapies for schizophrenia The interactionist approach to schizophrenia

Eating BehaviourOption 2

Topic overview Explanations for food preferences Neural and hormonal mechanisms in eating behaviour Biological explanations for anorexia nervosa Psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa Biological explanations for obesity Psychological explanations for obesity

StressOption 2

Topic overview The physiology of stress The role of stress in illness Sources of stress Measuring stress Individual differences in stress Managing and coping with stress

AggressionOption 3

Topic overview Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression Genetic factors in aggression Ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggression Social psychological explanations of human aggression Institutional aggression in prisons Media influences on aggression

Forensic PsychologyOption 3

Topic overview Offender profiling Biological explanations of offending behaviour Psychological explanations of offending behaviour Dealing with offending behaviour

AddictionOption 3

Topic overview Describing addiction Risk factors in the development of addiction Reducing addiction Prochaska's six-stage model of behaviour change Theory of planned behaviour as applied to reducing addiction

Explanations for Nicotine AddictionOption 3

Topic overview Brain neurochemistry, including the role of dopamine Learning theory as applied to nicotine addiction, including reference to cue reactivity

Explanations for Gambling AddictionOption 3

Topic overview Learning theory as applied to gambling, including reference to partial and variable reinforcement Cognitive theory as applied to gambling, including reference to cognitive bias

Aggression

Ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggression

5 things to know
Paper 3

Overview

Innate releasing mechanisms and fixed action patterns, Lorenz's hydraulic model, ritualised aggression and appeasement, and evolutionary accounts of human aggression.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

Define innate releasing mechanism and fixed action pattern.

Process

Outline Lorenz's hydraulic model of aggressive energy.

Key term

What are ritualised aggression and appeasement displays?

Who and when

How do evolutionary psychologists explain human aggression?

Evaluation

Give criticisms of ethological and evolutionary accounts of aggression.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is ethology?
Model answer
The study of animal behaviour in natural environments, applying evolutionary principles to understand innate behaviours including aggression.
2
What did Konrad Lorenz propose about the nature of aggression in animals?
Model answer
That aggression is an innate, adaptive behaviour that has evolved because it promotes survival.
3
Define an innate releasing mechanism (IRM).
Model answer
A neural network that responds to specific environmental stimuli (sign stimuli) by triggering a fixed action pattern.
4
What is a sign stimulus (or releaser)?
Model answer
A specific environmental trigger that activates an innate releasing mechanism, such as the red belly of a male stickleback triggering aggression in rival males.
5
Define a fixed action pattern (FAP).
Model answer
A stereotyped, species-specific sequence of behaviours that, once triggered, runs to completion regardless of feedback.
6
What does it mean that fixed action patterns are stereotyped?
Model answer
The same sequence of behaviours occurs each time the pattern is triggered.

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Social Influence

Memory

Attachment

Approaches in Psychology

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